Monday, January 26, 2009

Massachusetts GOP Chair Update – Joe Manzoli Enters Race

Joe Manzoli, a Republican activist and recent campaign manager for 2008 State Senate candidate, Jeff Beatty, has entered the Massachusetts GOP Chair race. Mr. Manzoli, an entrepreneur, has a solid background in strategic planning, public relations and business development; he has served as the Chair of the Growth Study Committee, Chair of the Shrewsbury Republican Town Committee and Vice President of the Worcester County Republican Club. Manzoli entered the race late, the Massachusetts Republican Committee will meet on the 27th to elect the new state Chair –

Joe’s reason for running – the disconnect between the state Party’s leadership and its members. He was approached by a Republican activist who had decided to leave the party, not because of the past election results (this being Massachusetts), but more to the point, the divide between those who would make the GOP more “liberal”, and those who would hold onto conservative values (RINO’s) – After encouraging this individual to stay in the party, he felt he should also get more involved – it was his concern for the party and his conservation with conservatives that cemented his decision. Additionally, as an “Associate State Committee Person” (a position that the MAGOP deleted), he has a record of 8 and 1 helping to elect State Representatives, State Senators and Town Selectmen.

Mr. Manzoli’s plans for the State GOP Chair would include bringing back the position of “Associate State Committee person”, moving the party headquarters out of Boston and re-locate to the center of the state. He understands that the Massachusetts GOP should be more inclusive, and has includes the import of Grassroots activism and fiscal and social conservative values in his plan.To learn more about Joe Manzoli, view his YouTube video below, or visit Youtube for an introduction. The other candidates for State Chair include, Jennifer Nassour, , (plan and information available here.), and Mike Franco, a Western Massachusetts grassroots activist, has several videos on YouTube (here)

From this Massachusetts Conservatgives' perspective, the best candidate is the one who would move the party forward, without abandoning their personal convictions, nor conservative values, while brining the Massachusetts GOP out of the technical “dark ages”. Ramping up the technical ability of the town and state committees in order to attract new members, maintaining communications, and most importantly, branding the party through the use of all available state media, including meeting with editorial board and well as utilizing the web, including social networking sites such as Face Book and Twitter is critical. Most importantly, advertising both the state party and candidates will go a long way toward branding. There is a direct correlation between Republican candidates who run in Massachusetts and name recognition – as recognition increases, so does the Republican favorability among likely voters, specifically independent, or the unenrolled, who make up the majority of the electorate in Massachusetts (51%). Most importantly, without the grassroots activists, or those who will knock on doors and make the phone calls (from their homes, no need for offices for candidates – that money better spent on commercials), should be courted and included in the party up to and after each election. Of the three candidates, Jennifer Nassour has included branding and the use of new technology in her plan. Mr. Franco and Mr. Manzoli, (who granted, entered the fray at a late hour), have taken advantage of the YouTube channel to appeal to Republican activists in the State as well as State Committee members. All three stress the importance of the inclusion of grassroots activists in the Massachusetts GOP.